Russia says it sent 33 tons of humanitarian aid to embattled Lebanon

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - Russia said on Thursday that it sent 33 tons of humanitarian aid to Lebanon, where Israeli warplanes carried out airstrikes on the capital Beirut overnight.

A special Il-76 aircraft carried 33 tons of humanitarian aid as directed by President Vladimir Putin and Emergency Situations Minister Alexander Kurenkov, said a statement by the Emergency Situations Ministry.

The statement said the aid includes food, essential goods, medicines, and portable power stations.

Lebanon’s official National News Agency said that up until daybreak on Thursday, Israeli forces carried out 17 airstrikes on Beirut and one of its southern suburbs.

Israel has launched massive airstrikes since Sept. 23 on what it calls Hezbollah targets across Lebanon that have killed more than 1,100 victims and injured over 3,000, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.

The top leadership of Lebanese group Hezbollah was killed in the Israeli assaults, including its leader Hassan Nasrallah.

Hezbollah and Israel have been engaged in cross-border warfare since the start of Israel's war on Gaza, which has killed nearly 41,700 people, most of them women and children, following an attack by the Palestinian group Hamas last October.

The international community has warned that Israeli attacks in Lebanon could escalate the Gaza conflict into a wider regional war.